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| November 7, 2003 | Friday | Ramazan 11, 1424 |
Mall, FCC underpass projects challenged
LAHORE, Nov 6: A citizen has challenged the construction of the FCC and Mall Road underpasses without carrying out their Environment Impact Assessment, which is mandatory under section 12 of the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act, 1997.
Advocate Samaira Awan, who is also a member of the LHCBA Environment Protection Committee, has served a notice under section 21 of the PEPA on the Punjab Environment Protection Department.
She has sought explanation from the communication and works department secretary, the site in-charge and the executive engineer, The Mall Road underpass project contractors, SKB (Saadullah Khan and Brothers), and its consultants, the Nespak, within 30 days for violating the environmental laws.
She has complained that both the projects have been undertaken without seeking an approval from the EPD. Besides, no IEE (initial environment examination) was held by the department concerned.
“The projects have resulted in the cutting of more than 1,000 trees along the canal bank, causing an increase in the city temperature, loss of natural habitat for bio-diversity, increase in green house gases and suspended particulate matter (SPM) in the air,” Ms Samaira stated in the notice.
Excavation and dumping of earth was being carried out without adopting safety measures, thus, causing air pollution and inconvenience for the adjoining localities, she added.
She has claimed that both the projects have been initiated in a hurry, and no strategic plan has been formulated for the smooth flow of traffic.
Former LHCBA chairman Akhtar H Awan, who served the notice on behalf of the complainant, has sought an urgent submission of the EIA by the department concerned so that necessary measures could be adopted to protect the environment.
Mr Awan said the complainant would move the Environment Tribunal, if the EPD did not take action against the department concerned for violating environment laws.
When contacted, EPD secretary Kamran Lashari said the department had sought report from the C&W on the issue, but it had claimed that the projects were initiated keeping in view the environment degradation. However, he said, the EIA of the projects should be undertaken without wasting more time.
Mr Lashari said the environment minister would convene a meeting with the officials of the C&W this month to discuss the matter.
It is pertinent to mention that the EIA is an environmental study and formulation of environmental management of a project.
Its prime purpose is to evaluate the environmental and related social implications of carrying out a development project of any size before irrevocable decisions are made.
It also provides alternative ways to carry out the project in case it has adverse effects on the environment.
At present, neither the public nor the private sectors bother to carry out the EIA before the launch of any industrial and infrastructural projects. Non-compliance of the EIA rules of the PEPA 1997 is causing fast degradation of environment.
The EPD, which is an executing agency of the EIA rules in the province, sends legal notices to violators in the private sector, but does not dare to send the same in case a government department is involved.
Only 10 cases have been registered with the tribunal against the industrialists for setting up units without getting the projects through by the EIA, according to the EPD officials.
However, they admitted that they could not take any action against the government departments for violating the EIA rules. Lack of resources were said to be the main reason for the poor implementation of the environment laws.
The EIA is also compulsory before the launch of thermal power generation over 200MW, hydroelectric power generation over 50MV, petroleum refineries, major power transmission lines, including grid stations and nuclear power plants.
Besides, it is required for manufacturing units of chemicals, pesticides and fertilizers, industrial estates, mining and mineral processing, major ports and harbour development, airports, federal and provincial highways, bridges, dams and landfill sites.
According to environment advocates, the EIA costs only 0.5 per cent of the total cost of a project.
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